Heaven Under the Sea
by fruityfangirl
Summary: AU. Abandoned at Columbia Orphanage as a child and raised by the insane Father Comstock, Elizabeth wishes for freedom from her past. She thinks that she can find freedom in the undersea cage called Rapture, however, what will be the price of this freedom?
1. Chapter 1

**Heaven Under the Sea - Prologu** e

If she was completely honest about her life, which she rarely was, she would say that she felt trapped. Caged.

Life was rarely ever kind to Anna Comstock. Abandoned at Columbia Orphanage as a child by her drunk, dead beat father was not a happy start to her life.

Her life had not hit rock bottom yet, for at the tender age of 12, she was adopted by the notorious Father Comstock, a local New York Catholic priest. He was well known in areas of the city for his, well, _eccentricity._

From his outlandish religious claims to his obsession with the young Anna, Father Comstock had quite the reputation, though none would ever dare to voice their suspicions and complaints.

Thus, Anna was trapped. She was trapped throughout her childhood in the dingy Orphanage, alone and unloved.

However, in her years in Father Comstock's care, she was trapped in a more literal sense. Though she could never understand why, her caretaker had thought her to be special.

Not intellectually gifted or such that would make a parent claim their child to be special. Rather, her Father would proclaim her "divine" specialty.

As such, he insisted on her protection. She was, as a rule, not allowed outside of the house. If this was broken, punishment was delivered swiftly and mercilessly. Once was enough to learn her lesson.

More often than not, she was locked in her bedroom and left to her own devices. She became quite good at entertaining herself and was self-taught in a variety of things. From languages to arts and more, she read and learned it all. She had developed quite an affinity for singing.

Her room, compared to the shared room at the Orphanage, was quite nice, and well stocked in books, paper, fabric, and whatever else she might have needed. And yet her gilded cage was still that, a cage.

She longed for an escape, to see the world and all it had to offer. In naivety and youth at the Orphanage, she would dream of being adopted by some lovely, youthful couple that would care and love her unconditionally.

She quickly learned not to dream in Comstock House. Her Father was strict and unyielding one moment, and then all sugar the next. He would scould and sing her praises all in the same sentence.

Anna lived for her 18th birthday, the day she would be free of her Father and of her past. After 6 years of isolation and solitude, she finally gained her freedom. However, as with all things, this came at a price.

XOXOXOXO

 **1946, New York City**

At first, she thought nothing of it. She brushed it off as rumors, nothing more and nothing less. Rumors never proved true and a Utopia was nothing more than a fairytale for children.

However, the more and more she heard about this fantastical city, the more intrigued she became. Anna was obsessed with every word spoken about this heaven under the sea; Rapture.

It was everything her life at Comstock House was not. It was a place where one could become their own person, no restrictions. Complete and utter freedom.

No longer longer would Anna be known as the poor abandoned girl, nor would she be known the daughter of the deranged priest. No, in Rapture she could be whoever she wanted to be. She could be Elizabeth.

 **End Chapter**

A/N: Hello there! This is my first multi-chaptered fic (and even then I'm extremely new to writing fan fiction, though I'm certainly not new to reading it!) I would really appreciate reviews, especially **constructive** criticism! Thanks for giving this fic a try and I hope you stick around for more! :)


	2. Chapter 2 - Drowning

**1955, Rapture**

"No, no, no! This is all wrong," raged Cohen for what seemed the millionth time, "Measure 42 reads 1 _a_ 2, not 1 _and_ 2! Do it again from the beginning, and count for once in your life!"

Elizabeth bit her tongue in order to stop an angry retort and obeyed, this time paying extra attention to the timing.

Cohen was, after all, famous for a reason. Or rather infamous. She supposed that one did not become the best artist in Rapture without being both an eccentric perfectionist as well as being, frankly, absolutely insane.

However, insane or not, he was her teacher and the man that had made the name Elizabeth known throughout Rapture.

And so, she listened to all of his critiques, which, most of the time, were more like the ravings of a mad man. Which wasn't too far from the truth, in all honesty.

However, despite the tedious and frustrating work of being Cohen's protégé, she wouldn't trade it for the world.

Sure, she often came home from rehearsals and performances wanting to pull her hair out from its roots or sob uncontrollably, but at least, despite her difficulties, she was living her own life.

She had her own apartment payed by her own job (she would often remind herself of this on nights when she could hear her neighbors shouting through the paper thin walls).

For her, the independence to live her own life was worth the hours of Cohen's madness and the exhausting work of being a performer. She was living her own life, her own dream.

She was known throughout the city, not for being the poor, unfortunate Anna, but for being Elizabeth, Rapture's very own Songbird.

She finished the song and waited anxiously for his response. The rehearsal could be over in minutes or hours, depending on if he decided to be particularly fastidious that day.

"That was… acceptable. For now," Cohen dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

She breathed a sigh of relief and quickly gathered her sheet music. Cohen had no patience for dwaddling.

"I expect nothing less than perfection tomorrow!" He called after her quickly retreating form.

As soon as she was out of earshot, she gave a particularly loud huff of annoyance. _Two and a half hours straight of rehearsals_ , she thought, _and all I get is "acceptable"! Well, at least he didn't make me practice the entire night_ , she consoled herself.

She hurried home on the tram to her tiny, rundown apartment in Artemis Suites, which was a far cry from the luxury Cohen lived in at Mercury Suites. However, home was home, and at least she could call it her own.

The short ride to her apartment felt like forever after a long, grueling rehearsal and as she entered Artemis Suites, she felt ready to collapse.

She tossed her folders of sheet music and notes on the kitchen table carelessly and drug herself to to her bedroom. She sat at her vanity, wiping away the remnants of her makeup away with a towel and brushed through her previously curled hair, which had deflated throughout the long day.

She stared into the mirror, noticing her dark circles and bloodshot eyes. She let out a deep sigh, wondering if all the stress and work was worth the life she lived.

Five long years of building a life and a reputation for herself in the undersea city was certainly not easy, especially when she started from scratch.

It had taken her three years just to scrape together enough money to book passage for the voyage below. At first, the city was something out of a dream. The glow of the neon lights reflected off the glass walls and the masses of people, she had never seen anything like it before.

But now, the citiy's glow was dimmed. She wasn't sure if it was because, after living in the city for so long, she had taken off her rose colored glasses and saw the reality. Or perhaps it's was the unnerving changes she had begun to notice around her.

She had heard whispers here and there around the city. ADAM was taking hold of its users and driving them to insanity, said some. Rapture is collapsing and uprisings are beginning to take hold of the city, said others.

Elizabeth already knew there was conflict in Nature, despite Ryan's attempts to censor it from the media. She terrified- no concerned, no... terrified of the foreboding feeling she got when she heard daily reports of the death and decay in her city.

She did not know why, but sitting there, staring into the mirror of her vanity and contemplating the state of her underwater home, she felt like she was drowning.


End file.
